Academic Leadership Program: Tom Thornburg

Tom Thornburg has been selected as a Fellow in the Academic Leadership Program sponsored by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Carolina. It is a highly selective program—the 2010-2011 class has eight Fellows for the entire campus. This is a big deal. The goal of the program is to help the Fellows “develop leadership skills, clarify their career commitments, build a leadership network within the campus and extend their contacts to other leaders beyond the university.” Each participant attends a week-long leadership development program at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro. The Fellows also have a weekly seminar that focuses on critical issues facing the University. I’ve participated in leading one of these seminars about public service and engagement at Carolina. I was impressed with the high level of the conversation—they were a thoughtful, positive, and supportive group of colleagues. There are other activities during the year, and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities does a nice job of bringing the Fellows together for different alumni activities. This is a great professional development opportunity for Tom, and his experience in connecting with colleagues across the campus will be helpful to the School. Congratulations to Tom!